Our Facilities

You'll be drawing on terrific facilities as a Theatre Arts student at EMU. From our two bigger stages to the more intimate spaces to the amazing costume and set construction studios, we routinely make the theatre come alive in all of our production areas.

Quirk Theatre

The Quirk Theatre is the larger of our two mainstage houses. The 36' x 58' stage, fronted with a 35' x 20' proscenium arch, is the 327-seat home for our faculty-directed mainstage productions. Quirk's stage boasts an additional 11' deep forestage apron, which includes a lift that can be lowered for use as an orchestra pit. The fly loft grid extends the full width and depth of the stage, housing a counterweight system of 31 line sets.

Sponberg Theatre

The 202-seat Sponberg Theatre is the more intimate of our two mainstage houses. It is located just beyond the Quirk building's main lobby. It offers a 18' x 40' modified thrust stage. Part of the stage can be removed to accommodate a small band. A system of catwalks allows access to areas over the stage and the auditorium for effects and lighting. The lighting control system consists of 36 2.4k racked dimmers augmented by 4 CAE ULD-360 portable dimmer packs for a total of 60 dimmers, enabling many interesting effects.

Frank Ross Laboratory Theatre

"The Lab" is a 40' x 24' black-box theatre with seating for a 50-person audience. This extremely flexible space can be modified for proscenium, thrust, or arena staging, The Lab has recently undergone major renovations, including new lighting and air conditioning systems, and is primarily used for student performances and projects.

Bird Scenic Studios

The 3,800 sq. ft. P. George Bird Scenic Studios is the workshop for building and painting scenery and creating lighting and special effects for a busy season of theatrical productions. The scenic studio also has a 20' x 40' vertical paint frame to help create stage magic.

Costume Shop

Located in the basement of the Quirk Theatre, our costume shop houses the wardrobe, equipment dressing rooms and storage for five or six major productions per season.

Theatre Annex

The Theatre Annex is located in the lower level of Dining Commons #1 (DC1) and is used regularly as a rehearsal space for our mainstage, and Lab productions, as well as for many of our courses.